“I had no way to play Hotel California live. I played so many guitar tracks on that song”: Don Felder on why he had to mod his white Gibson doubleneck to play the Eagles’ biggest hit – and how he got the idea from Chet Atkins

Don Felder plays his iconic white Gibson doubleneck electric guitar onstage. Note the double jack: that mod is crucial when playing Hotel California, which he surely is in this picture.

Most bands would give their eye teeth to write a song like the Eagles' Hotel California. Many have tried. Many have failed. But in scaling his own musical Everest, Don Felder found himself with a problem. How was he going to perform it live?

Hotel California was tracked in 1976. By this stage in rock’s evolution, there had been some notable compositions that paired the regular electric guitar with the 12-string within the same track.